At last week’s Think Tank conference in Nashville, the keynote speaker was Paula Scher from Pentagram. She gave an amazing presentation – definitely worth hearing her speak if you’re in the design profession. And if you are, you know that she’s one of the most famous of people in the profession – one of our own “rock stars” (along with her husband Seymour Chwast who spoke at the conference last year, and who I had the pleasure of showing around town).
It was a conference I very much enjoyed. Most of the content was very informative and challenging, and because I had spent 3 years on the board for the local AIGA chapter, this was the first time I got to attend this event simply as an attendee (in fact, I co-created Think Tank while on the board, but that’s another story).
So, as a general rule, I don’t ask people for autographs – even from people I admire – but I decided to make an exception in this case. And because she spent a large part of her early career in the music business (as have I), I thought it would be appropriate to have her autograph an album cover that she worked on.
Paula Scher signed my Boston album!
So, of course I was a little nervous about doing this, but, after a short conversation about her presentation, I said “So… I have an odd request.” By this point, I had been carrying around this huge album in my messenger bag, and I had a little bit of trouble getting it out, and almost lost her attention as she started to talk to somebody else while I was struggling with this. But once I made my request, she chuckled and searched for a place to sign it. She seemed honored and amused at the same time, which was pretty much what I intended.
I had meant for her to sign the front – for display purposes – but of course the front is composed of an illustration which she didn’t personally do, so she seemed compelled to sign the back, by her name. I thought for a second about asking her to sign the front too, but by this point, kind of figured I’d let it go.
So, that’s my little design rock star moment. I just wish I had thought to do something like that with Seymour the year before (such a print issue of The Nose), because that would make a nice set 
Kevin Tucker Defies Categorization
